Composition180 articles

Rule of thirds? Leading lines? The Fibonacci spiral? Learn it all with our deep archive of photography composition tips for beginner, intermediate and pro photographers.

10 Elements of Good Composition

10 Elements of Good Composition

You can know exactly what gear to buy and which settings to shoot in, but if you don’t haven’t mastered composition your photographs will always disappoint. Composition tells viewers where to look and guides the viewer’s eye through the photograph. “There are a lot of ideas and concepts and rules when it comes to composition,” […]

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How to Create the Perfect Photo Composition

How to Create the Perfect Photo Composition

In this article, I want to focus on creating the perfect composition. But before we can create something perfect, we have to know what perfect looks like. Why is composition important? It is the difference between a snapshot and a photograph. In a snapshot, you bring up the camera, look through the viewfinder, and take […]

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The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Composition

The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Composition

With all of the gorgeous new gadgetry coming out this season, it’s easy to get caught up in the shiny, techy part of photography. (New Nikon D810, anyone? Or a Canon 7D Mark II? Or the sweet new GoPro Hero4 Black?) Lest you fall into the terrible hole of DSLR expectations vs. reality, though, we’ve […]

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Photography Composition Tip: Look For a Frame Within a Frame

Photography Composition Tip: Look For a Frame Within a Frame

There are many useful tips when it comes to composition. Some of the more common rules such as the rule of thirds and leading lines are easy choices, but there are also some lesser known composition tips you can utilize. Take a look at the video below to see how Bryan Peterson uses framing with […]

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The Fundamental Rules of Street Photography Composition

The Fundamental Rules of Street Photography Composition

Check out this awesome slideshow that walks us through the fundamentals of street photography composition. A helpful resource for photographers, the presentation was created by Eric Kim as an educational supplement to his course on street photography at the 2014 Gulf Photo Plus Exposition in Dubai: The slideshow provides a nice visualization of various rules […]

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Incredibly Important Composition Skills

Incredibly Important Composition Skills

In simplified terms when we talk about an image’s composition, we’re talking about how the various visual bits and pieces in a scene have been organized. This organization influences not only how the final image looks, but also how it feels and what we take away from it in terms of meaning. This eBook is designed to […]

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How to Make Better Photos with Better Composition

How to Make Better Photos with Better Composition

Most photographers know that for a photograph to be interesting, it must have a good composition. But what does that mean, exactly? The concepts of composition are often assumed to be mere common sense, but it never hurts to refresh oneself on the basics. And remember, as photographer David Thorpe says, “composition is better treated as […]

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Careless Photo Composition Causes Heartbreak for Parents

Careless Photo Composition Causes Heartbreak for Parents

When it comes to taking group photos, this is probably the worst possible reaction a photographer could receive. But that is exactly what Don Ambridge, the father of 7-year-old Miles Ambridge said when confronted with his son’s second grade class photo: “This was not a malicious act; I don’t think it was done on purpose. I […]

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How to Create Elaborate Light Painting Photo Compositions

How to Create Elaborate Light Painting Photo Compositions

UK photographer showcases his techniques for painting the “largest indoor continuously-drawn piece of light art” in this self-published short (Michael Bosanko). Anyone who is familiar with the concept of light painting knows what an enormous feat this is; light painting requires long exposures, sometimes stretching into hours, of precision work in almost pitch dark conditions. The […]

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Interior Composition in Architecture Photography

Interior Composition in Architecture Photography

(Rewind) Taking eye-catching photographs of interiors is more difficult than simply pointing and shooting. To compose an effective image, it takes some forethought and careful consideration of your surroundings. To improve our understanding of photographic composition, professional photographer Scott Hargis provides this very helpful insider look into the art of interior photography: Shooting as wide […]

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